When it comes to restaurant delivery apps these days, Americans essentially have three choices: DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub.
These three companies dominate the U.S. third-party delivery market, accounting for virtually 100% of sales in March, according to data from Bloomberg Second Measure. DoorDash and Uber Eats owned the bulk of that at 67% and 23%, respectively.
Customers tend to stick to one of the apps rather than jump around. According to a survey by researcher Intouch Insight, 31% of consumers stay loyal to a single app, 50% usually use the same app, and 19% switch between apps.
So, if a consumer (or a restaurant) is going to use just one delivery app, which one should it be?
Intouch Insight conducted a secret shopper study in which consumers placed 600 delivery orders split evenly across DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.* The shoppers then rated their experience based on speed, accuracy and other variables.
The results show a clear winner among the three. Read on to see which app came out on top.
Speed
DoorDash was the fastest delivery provider by a wide margin.
The average DoorDash delivery took 26 minutes and 24 seconds. That compared to 35 minutes and 49 seconds for Grubhub and 38 minutes and 4 seconds for Uber Eats.
However, when looking at the apps’ promoted and estimated delivery times, it was a different story.
In both cases, Grubhub was most likely to be early and least likely to be late.
Promoted delivery time refers to the arrival time that is quoted by the app before a customer places their order.
Among the three apps, Grubhub most often bested its promoted delivery time. Three-fourths of Grubhub deliveries arrived earlier than the quoted time. That compared to 72% for Uber Eats and 69% for DoorDash.
DoorDash, meanwhile, was most likely to miss its promoted time. Twenty-nine percent of DoorDash deliveries were later than quoted, compared to 27% for Uber Eats and 24% for Grubhub.
Three percent of DoorDash orders hit the promoted time exactly, vs. 2% for Uber Eats and 1% for Grubhub.
Estimated delivery time, meanwhile, is the time that is given after a customer places their order.
Here, Grubhub was also the leader. Grubhub deliveries arrived earlier than estimated 63% of the time. DoorDash was early 54% of the time and Uber Eats was early 47% of the time.
Uber Eats was also most likely to be late, which happened with 48% of orders. DoorDash followed at 42%, then Grubhub at 35%
Five percent of Uber Eats and DoorDash orders met the estimated delivery time. Two percent of Grubhub orders were right on time.
Conclusion: DoorDash was the fastest provider overall, but Grubhub was most likely to exceed its promoted and estimated delivery times.
Accuracy
According to Intouch Insight, order accuracy is the most important factor for consumers when choosing a fast-food restaurant.
But when it comes to third-party delivery, order accuracy is often out of the delivery person’s control. If an item is missing or wrong, it is likely a mistake on the restaurant’s part, though theft by couriers does happen, and it’s possible for couriers to forget items at the restaurant.
And order accuracy did differ by app. DoorDash had the highest order accuracy at 98%, followed by 88% for Uber Eats and 85% for Grubhub.
There are other elements of accuracy that the delivery providers had more control over, such as the temperature of the food when it arrived.
On that front, Uber Eats scored highest, with 92% of customers saying they were satisfied with the temperature of their food. That compared to 90% for DoorDash and 89% for Grubhub.
There was also the matter of whether the delivery was delivered to the right location. All three apps performed well here, but DoorDash led the way at 99%, compared to 98% for Uber Eats and 95% for Grubhub.
Conclusion: Accuracy is not always within the delivery provider’s control, but DoorDash tended to perform best on order accuracy and drop-off location, while Uber Eats led on food temperature.
Fees
Price is a key consideration in any dining decision, especially these days. And when it comes to delivery, fees can have a significant impact on the total cost.
All three apps charged two separate fees: a delivery fee and a service fee. These fees varied based mainly on the distance of the trip, as well as time of day and order value.
Uber Eats had the highest total average fees at $6.38. DoorDash followed at $5.85, while Grubhub had the lowest fees at $5.67.
Notably, those fees have come down since Intouch Insight last measured them. In 2022, the average fee was $6.87; this year, it was $5.96.
Conclusion: On average, Grubhub’s fees were lowest. But all three apps were in the same ballpark, and there are many variables that go into determining fees.
Overall satisfaction
The three above factors weighed heavily into consumers’ overall satisfaction with each delivery provider. And on this metric, DoorDash came out on top, with a 96% overall satisfaction rating.
Uber Eats came in at 91%, while Grubhub trailed considerably at 85%.
According to Intouch Insight, food temperature and order accuracy were the biggest determinants of a satisfied customer. When food arrived at the right temperature, the customer was 49% more satisfied than when the temp was off. And accurate deliveries led to a 93% satisfaction rate.
DoorDash performed well in both of those areas and was also the fastest of the three apps.
Overall, consumers were happier with their third-party delivery experience this year than they were two years ago. In 2022, 87% reported being satisfied compared to 91% in 2024.
Conclusion: DoorDash left customers feeling most satisfied by a fairly wide margin. It performed well on key metrics including food temperature, accuracy and speed. Grubhub trailed the other two apps.
* The study included 300 orders from restaurants and 300 orders from convenience stores. For the purposes of this story, only restaurant results were considered.
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